Analysis of Chou Wen-chung’s Manuscript of Twilight Colors

Abstract

Twilight Colors is one of the most important works among Chou Wen-chungs late musical compositions. Through a study of the musical manuscript, the following conclusions may be drawn. First, this work is indeed structured by the use of variable modes, and the form of variable modes is not the same in each movement. For instance, the first movement employs a variable mode approximating the twelve-tone technique, the third movement utilizes a nine-note series, and the fourth movement adopts a twelve-tone series. Second, this work not only organizes the pitches according to the variable modes, but also possesses a combination of variable modes as well as a preconception of the layout of the large-scale variable modes. Third, the variable modes do not provide the single source of the pitch relations in Twilight Colors, and there exist a few musical components in this work that go beyond the variable modes. Fourth, the pitch organization of Twilight Colors also reflects the thinking of twelve-tone and serial logic, further revealing Chou Wen-chung’s philosophy of confluence prominent during the late period of his music. In other words, the variable modes with Chinese cultural markings and the most representative Western twelve-tone compositional techniques in the first half of the 20th century are highly integrated in the pitch organization of this work, blending with each other in a blurry way.

Keywords: Chou Wen-chung, Twilight Colors, manuscript, variable modes, twelve tones, series